


Heavensent

by StackerPentecost



Category: Pilgrimage (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Time, M/M, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:27:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23282497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StackerPentecost/pseuds/StackerPentecost
Summary: He was once a killer, until God gifted him with the man that would be his salvation.---For Day 2 of Diarmute week.
Relationships: Brother Diarmuid/The Mute
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	Heavensent

**Author's Note:**

> This was done for day 2 of Diarmute week on Tumblr. The theme was salvation.

The fire cast dancing shadows along the walls, though the embers had long since lost their intensity. The room smelled of the remnants of their dinner, the scent of cooking meat still in the air, though beneath it he could smell wildflowers carried on the summer night breeze through the cracks in the wood panels covering the windows of the cottage. 

The man once known as the Mute but now called by his proper name, David, laid awake, for once not kept awake by nightmares. He felt warm and sated, his muscles aching pleasantly. This wasn’t the first time he’d been in this situation, naked and content and sharing a bed with another man, but this was the first time he’d found himself in such a state with Diarmuid. 

The younger man dozed next to him, his curls mussed, his arms curled against his chest. David could still hear his moans. Tonight had been the first time they’d given themselves over to each other fully, loved each other fully. When David closed his eyes, he could still feel Diarmuid’s lips on his own, see the pleasure in his eyes. In all his life, he’d never felt something so good, experienced such a feeling of happiness. It did him good to be able to make this young man, who had given him so much, feel good in any way, especially with his own body, when before he’d always considered his own being a tool used exclusively for violence. This was just the latest in a long line of things that Diarmuid had given him. 

The first time David had laid eyes on Diarmuid had been the day he’d been taken into the monastery after being found by one of the monks. He’d been wandering the countryside for days, subsisting on whatever food he could scrounge up. The monk had been scared to death of him but had somehow managed to convince David to come back to the monastery with him. Diarmuid had spotted them as soon as they were within sight, scurrying up the path toward them, his chores forgotten. 

Over the coming months, as David slept on a small straw mat in a storage room next to where the novices slept, he would grow close with Diarmuid. Most of the other monks regarded him with what ranged from timid fear to outright disdain. All except for Diarmuid. He was the only one who spoke to David like a human being, who actually cared about him. He accompanied David as he did all his duties around the monastery and David soon began to help Diarmuid do his own chores. In his free time and when he was allowed, David would sit with Diarmuid while he worked on his religious studies. 

David couldn’t put his finger on when their relationship changed from one of friendship to something more. But he could clearly remember one day, as they harvested clams from next to the lake. They had taken a break, settling down in the nearby grass with their buckets. David couldn’t remember what they were talking about, just the way Diarmuid’s smile lit up his entire face, the light shining down on him like a halo from above. He was the most beautiful thing David had seen in a very long time. When the boy leaned over and carefully pressed their lips together, David felt nothing but bliss. 

That had been nearly a year ago. They both had made the decision to leave. Diarmuid knew the other brothers would never understand the nature of their relationship and they would never have been able to truly love one another if they had stayed. So, one night they gathered up their meager belongings and set out on their own. 

David had built the cottage they lived in with his own hands. They’d gone into a local town and purchased a few chickens and a goat, housing them in pens David had also built. Everything they needed, they either found in the market or the land provided. Diarmuid worked the garden or collected eggs from the chickens or milk from the goat. He foraged for other things to add to their diet and helped cook their meals. He was resourceful and resilient and positive in ways David never anticipated. They had managed to build their own little life together and David had never been more grateful for anything in his entire life. 

David had once been a man of much faith, but that had long since been twisted by the things he’d seen and done in his life. But ever since Diarmuid had come into his life, his outlook had greatly changed. His relationship with God was strained and tenuous, but David felt a comforting balm on his soul that he had not experienced in years. Diarmuid had brought a sense of peace into his life that he had never expected. He wasn’t sure he deserved that, after the things he’d done, but he accepted the blessings for what they were. 

David reached a hand out to stroke through Diarmuid’s curls. The younger man stirred, his eyes opening slowly. When he met David’s gaze, he smiled, soft and sleepy. He moved closer to David, laying his head on his chest. David pressed a kiss to his head and wrapped his arms around him. 

“I love you…” Diarmuid murmured gently as he slipped back into sleep.

David nuzzled in close, stroking Diarmuid’s bare back. He let his eyes close, sinking into the warmth around him.

This man, this beautiful, kind, encouraging, tenacious, courageous young man was the reason he was still here. At that moment, David felt as though God had given him a gift and Diarmuid was that gift. God had finally granted him salvation, and he wasn’t about to let it go. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm saintaleksander on Tumblr.


End file.
